Missoula

 

(mĭzū'lə) , city (1990 pop. 42,918), seat of Missoula co., W Mont., on the Clark Fork of the Columbia River; inc. 1889. In the midst of five watered valleys, large forests, and an extensive dairy and cattle area, Missoula is a commercial center with lumber and paper, printing and publishing, food, chemicals, construction materials, furniture, and fabricated metal products industries, but the Univ. of Montana is the largest employer. The (Peace) Treaty of Hell Gate in 1855 between the warring Salish and Blackfoot tribes opened the area to settlement. Hell Gate town was founded nearby in 1860 and moved to the Missoula site six years later. The coming (1883, 1908) of the railroads stimulated Missoula's growth. A regional headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service, including the Smokejumper Center, and an art museum are located in the city.

Missoula, Montana
Missoula, Montana viewed from the top of Mount Sentinel in 1999.
Seal
Location of Missoula in Montana
Coordinates: 46°51′45″N 114°0′42″W / 46.8625, -114.01167
Country	United States
State	Montana
County	Missoula
Founded	1866
Government
- Mayor	John Engen
Area
- City	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
- Metro
Time zone	Mountain (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	Mountain (UTC-6)
Area code(s)	406
FIPS code	30-50200
GNIS feature ID	0787504
Website: www.ci.missoula.mt.us

Missoula is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County⁶ in western Montana, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 57,053, with more than 100,000 in the metropolitan area making it the second-largest city in Montana, behind Billings. Missoula is the home of the University of Montana. The university has nearly 15,000 students and with that added to the city population, along with recent anexation, the city has over 75,000 people. It is the birthplace of Jeannette Rankin (1880 - 1973), the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Missoula is nicknamed the Garden City. The state flower of Montana, the bitterroot, grows near Missoula. Local news sources include the Missoulian, the Missoula Independent, and New West Missoula. It is served by Missoula International Airport.

Geography and climate

Missoula is located at 46°51′45″N, 114°0′42″W (46.862633, -114.011593)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 61.9 km² (23.9 mi²). 61.6 km² (23.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.46%) is water. Missoula is located in a deep valley surrounded by mountains and is cut by three major rivers, the Clark Fork River, the Bitterroot River and the Blackfoot River. The city is the namesake and center of the large, ancient Glacial Lake Missoula, which caused catastrophic floods across the northwest between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	59	66	78	87	95	98	107"#wp-_note-all-time_record_high_temperature">[1]	105	99	85	73	60
Norm High °F	30.8	37.4	48.1	58	66.1	74.5	83.6	83.2	71.5	57.4	40	30.3
Norm Low °F	16.2	20.5	27.1	32.4	39.3	45.9	50.2	49.3	40.6	31.4	24	16.5
Rec Low °F	-33	-27	-13	14	21	30	31	30	20	0	-23	-30
Precip (in)	1.06	0.77	0.96	1.09	1.95	1.73	1.09	1.15	1.08	0.83	0.96	1.15
Source: USTravelWeather.com [1]

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 57,053 people, 24,141 households, and 12,336 families residing in the city. (A 2004 estimate puts the city's population at 61,790.) The population density was 925.6/km² (2,397.1/mi²). There were 25,225 housing units at an average density of 409.2/km² (1,059.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.57% White, 2.35% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.36% African American, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.

There were 24,141 households out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.9% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 20.7% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,366, and the median income for a family was $42,103. Males had a median income of $30,686 versus $21,559 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,166. About 11.7% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over. 38% of Missoula residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.

History

The first inhabitants of the Missoula area were American Indians from the Salish tribe. They called the area "Nemissoolatakoo," from which "Missoula" is derived. The word translates roughly to "river of ambush/surprise," a reflection of the inter-tribal fighting common to the area. The Indians' first encounter with whites came in 1805 when the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Missoula Valley.

There were no permanent white settlements in the Missoula Valley, until 1860 when C. P. Higgins and Francis Worden opened a trading post called the Hellgate Village on the Blackfoot River near the eastern edge of the valley. It was followed by a sawmill and a flourmill, which the settlers called "Missoula Mills". The completion of the Mullan Road connecting Fort Benton, Montana with Walla Walla, Washington and passing through the Missoula Valley meant fast growth for the burgeoning city, buoyed by the U.S. Army's establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877, and the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. With this Missoula became a trading center in earnest, distributing produce and grain grown in the agriculturally prosperous Bitterroot Valley. Businessmen A. B. Hammond, E. L. Bonner, and R. A. Eddy established the Missoula Mercantile Company in the early 1880s.

The city's success was aided by two other factors. First was the opening of the University of Montana in September 1895, serving as the center of public higher education for Western Montana. Then, in 1908, Missoula became a regional headquarters for the Forest Service, which began training smokejumpers in 1942. The Aerial Fire Depot was built in 1954, and big industry came to Missoula in 1956, with the groundbreaking for the first pulp mill.

Until the mid 1970s, logging was a mainstay industry with log yards throughout the city. Many ran teepee burners to dispose waste material, contributing to the smoky haze that sometimes covered the town. The current site of Southgate Mall was once the location of the largest log-processing yard within several hundred miles. The saws could be heard over two miles away on a clear summer night. However, by the early 1990s, changes in the economic fortunes in the city had shut down all the Missoula log yards.

Missoula is located within the flyfishing Golden Triangle and is a popular area for hunting mule deer, elk, bear, moose and other game animals. This provides Missoula with an ample tourism industry based on hunting and fishing.

Politics

Missoula's mayor and city council are nominated and elected on a non-partisan basis.^[2] Missoula holds the highest-percentage Democratic voting district in the state, and in the 2000 presidential election, it had one of the highest percentages of votes in the country for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.^{[citation needed]} NORML's state office is in Missoula and it holds a yearly Hemp Festival. Other organizations that call Missoula home include the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, the Boone and Crockett Club, Working for Equality and Economic Liberation (a low-income and welfare advocacy group), the Montana Shooting Sports Association and the Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center. On November 7th, 2006, Missoula voters passed Initiative 2, which makes marijuana offenses law enforcement's lowest priority in Missoula County. The initiative passed with 54% of the vote. Controversy followed when the County Commission subsequently amended the Initiative, based in part on "County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg's position that a 'gut feeling' led him to conclude Missoula's electorate misinterpreted the ballot language."^[3][4]

Local attractions

• Local ski areas include Montana Snowbowl and Marshall Mountain (closed).

Notable residents

Notable Missoulians include:

• Underground rock legend Steve Albini
• William M. Allen, longtime chairman of Boeing
• Pearl Jam bass guitarist Jeff Ament
• Eden Atwood, jazz singer.
• Courtney Babcock, runner.
• Dorothy Baker, novelist.
• United States Senator Max Baucus practiced law here.
• Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Bergoust
• David Berkoff, former Olympic swimming medalist, now practices law in Missoula.
• Judith Blegen, opera soprano.
• Judy Blunt, writer.
• Comedian Dana Carvey
• Author James Crumley
• Joseph M. Dixon, Governor of Montana, lived here.
• Troy Evans, actor.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actor.
• Leslie Fielder, noted literary critic.
• Tye Fields, boxer.
• Retired National Football League quarterback John Friesz
• Harry Haines, tax court judge.
• Bobby Hauck, football coach.
• Deane R. Hinton, career diplomat and ambassador.
• Leroy Hood, noted biologist.
• Olympic Decathlete Dave Johnson
• Mark Johnson, current U.S. Ambassador to Egypt
• Bill Kelly, member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
• Current University of Louisville head football coach Steve Kragthorpe
• Mike Lewis, former professional basketball player.
• Jason Lutes, comic book writer and artist.
• Filmmaker David Lynch
• Norman MacLean, author.
• Mike Mansfield, former US Senator and US Ambassador to Japan
• Bob Marshall, wilderness activist.
• David Maslanka, composer.
• Washington J. McCormick, former United States Representative from Montana.
• Author Neil McMahon
• Early 20th Century artist William C. McNulty
• Frank W. Milburn, United States Army general during the Korean War.
• Tommy Moe, skier.
• Record producer and founder of record label Kill Rock Stars, Slim Moon
• John M. Morin, United States Congressman from Pennsylvania.
• Sean Muir, playwright.
• Roger Nichols, songwriter.
• Ted Nichols, composer and music producer.
• Actor Carroll O'Connor (who attended and was later a professor at the University of Montana)
• Sage G. Rafferty, political consultant.
• Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress
• Diane Sands, member of the Montana House of Representatives.
• Lloyd Schermer, businessman and artist.
• Heather Sharfeddin, novelist, attended school here.
• Richard G. Shoup, United States Representative from Montana.
• Michael Smuin, ballet dancer, director, and choreographer.
• Clarence Streit, writer.
• Kenneth Dupree Swan, nature photographer.
• Taylor Tankersley, Florida Marlins pitcher.
• K. Ross Toole, hisotirian, author, and educator.
• the band Volumen hails from Missoula, as does the now-disbanded band Tarkio.
• Dennis Washington, industrialist and philanthropist.
• Native American Author James Welch (poet)
• Reagen Wilson, model, actress, and Playboy Playmate.
• Bryan Thao Worra, poet, writer, and journalist.
• Hubert Zemke, pilot and leader of "Zemke's Wolf Pack" in World War II.

Environment

Because it is located in a valley, Missoula suffers from smoke, soot, and occasional fog inversion during the winter months. There have been emissions restrictions placed on various industries, and the burning of wood in wood stoves. In recent years, those restrictions have resulted in significant improvement in the problem.

Education

Missoula has three public high schools: Hellgate High School, Sentinel High School, and Big Sky High School, and two private schools: Valley Christian School and Loyola Sacred Heart High School. Hellgate currently has the largest student body population of all three public high schools.

• The International Wildlife Film Festival, the largest animal-themed film festival in the world, is held annually in Missoula at the historic Wilma Theatre.
• Missoula is also located near the Rattlesnake Wilderness and Rattlesnake National Recreation Area, two areas that protect Missoula's municipal watershed and serve as wildlife habitat and recreational areas.
• Missoula and the nearby Blackfoot River are the setting for Norman MacLean's autobiographical novel A River Runs Through It. In it, he says "The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana."
• Missoula is home to the largest of the U.S. Forest Service's smokejumper bases. Free tours of the base are popular with tourists during the summer wildfire season.
• A walking bridge over the downtown railroad yards of the Montana RailLink railroad is a popular destination for railfans.
• The city appears or is mentioned in every novel written by author Chuck Palahniuk, who penned the cult favorite Fight Club.
• Robert Jordan, the fictional main character in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, was a Spanish professor at the University of Montana, and lived in Missoula.
• Missoula is home to a diverse and influential music scene. Members of bands such as Deranged Diction, which formed in Missoula, later moved to Seattle and became key members of groups such as Green River, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, Silkworm, and Love Battery -- playing an important role in the birth of the grunge movement.
• Missoula Children's Theatre is an international touring program that visits nearly 1,000 communities per year. The Children's Theatre routinely has residencies in all fifty states, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, and many other countries.
• The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Boone and Crockett Club are both headquartered in Missoula.
• The Missoula Osprey are the local minor league baseball team.
• "Apology Song", from the 5 Songs EP by Oregon indie-band The Decemberists makes numerous references to Missoula, including the Orange Street Food Farm and the Frenchtown Pond State Park. Lead singer Colin Meloy attended the University of Montana, fronting local band Tarkio.
• A local nickname is "Zoo Town".
• The League of American Bicyclists has named Missoula a bicycle-friendly community, granting it the third-highest level of recognition, the Silver Award.
• The trampoline bear incident became a surprise national event when it received considerable air-time on the ESPN show Pardon the Interruption.
• Missoula has been featured in numerous Stephen Frey novels

Sister cities

Missoula has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

• Neckargemünd, Germany
• Palmerston North, New Zealand

References

1. ^ July 2007 was a record setting month in terms of temperatures across western Montana and north central Idaho. National Weather Service (2007-08-12). Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
2. ^ ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/documents/citycharter/charter.pdf
3. ^ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/03/24/news/local/news04.txt
4. ^ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/04/02/letters/letters1.txt

External links

• Missoula city official website
• Missoula County official website
• University of Montana

Coordinates: 46.862633° N 114.011593° W

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